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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27662366">Useless</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemyxDancer/pseuds/DemyxDancer'>DemyxDancer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Aqua Deserved Better, Awkward Romance, Demyx Does Something Stupid and Awesome, Disney Worlds (Kingdom Hearts), Humor, M/M, Rampant Norting</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:18:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,698</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27662366</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemyxDancer/pseuds/DemyxDancer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When No. IX, Demyx, showed up at the Castle That Never Was, Zexion's initial file on him called him "useless." Now newly human and recruited into the gang of Keyblade wielders gathered at Radiant Garden, he finally has a chance to prove otherwise.</p><p>He probably won't, because that takes effort. But he <i>could.</i></p><p>[Canon divergent from KH3]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Demyx/Zexion (Kingdom Hearts)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Useless</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I outlined and wrote most of this story in the long wait for KH3, back when we didn't know how Norting worked or how anything would play out. Everything in it was invalidated by that game, but I thought it'd be fun to resurrect as a canon-divergent fic.</p><p>Spoilers for Wreck-It Ralph, incidentally.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>present</em>
</p><p>Underwater. He was underwater.</p><p>It was kind of nice, honestly, quiet and peaceful. The water was warm. The last thing Demyx remembered was being erased, so this was probably some kind of afterlife, and if so, it wasn’t bad at all. Definitely better than he expected.</p><p>The only serious problem was the fact that he was running out of breath. Which probably meant that maybe this wasn’t the afterlife after all. </p><p>It isn’t easy to swim with a heavy leather coat weighing you down, but thankfully he was a strong swimmer and the surface was only a few feet away. The first thing he saw as his head broke the water was the full moon. The second thing he saw, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, was a nearby beach, which he began swimming towards.</p><p>As he neared the coast, panting from the exertion of swimming in what was maybe the worst possible choice of clothing, he realized that it wasn’t just any beach, but a beach he knew extremely well.</p><p>Hawaii.</p><p>Not only was he not dead, he was home.</p><p>He scrambled onto the glittering sand and collapsed, rolling over to lay flat on his back and look up at the sky. He was breathless and his heart was pounding in his chest.</p><p><em>Heart</em>?</p><p>He pressed a hand to his chest to verify, then took his pulse at his neck, then at his wrist, then held his hand to his chest again. Unless someone had installed a motor inside him while he was… dead, maybe?... that was definitely a heart.</p><p>“I have my heart back,” he said to the night sky, laughing. “Like nothing ever even happened.”</p><p>Zexion had been right. Go figure.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>past</em>
</p><p>“I heard about your latest assignment, friend.”</p><p>Demyx stopped tuning his sitar and looked up. It was Luxord, probably the only Organization member left who was willing to give him the time of day.</p><p>“Yeah, should be a blast. Come to say goodbye?”</p><p>“I’m afraid so. I’ve consulted my dice, and the odds seem to be heavily against you.”</p><p>This was probably the last time he would see Luxord, so he might as well humor him. “Well, tell your dice that I have a plan.”</p><p>“A plan, you say? I’d be very interested in hearing that.” Luxord’s smile was so painfully fake that Demyx wasn’t even sure why he bothered.</p><p>Demyx really did have a plan. That plan was to make sure that Zexion’s research was still hidden and to hope that his death at Sora’s hand would be relatively quick and painless. He wasn’t about to tell Luxord that, though.</p><p>“I’ve been practicing my water clones. I’m gonna cast, like, a ton of them. They’ll overwhelm the kid and I won’t even have to get my hands dirty.”</p><p>“I must admit, that’s a more solid plan than I was expecting.” Luxord summoned his prized tarot deck. “Why don’t we see what the cards have to say?”</p><p>“Yeah, sure, whatever.” </p><p>Even though Demyx didn’t give a flying crap what the cards said, he couldn’t help but watch the skillful way Luxord shuffled them in midair, finally selecting one and taking a look.</p><p>“Let me guess, what could it possibly be?” said Demyx, sarcastically. “Could it be… Death?”</p><p>But Luxord said nothing, a puzzled look on his face. “It wasn’t at all what I expected, to be quite honest.”</p><p>Luxord flipped the card at Demyx, who managed to catch it without fumbling -- much. “The Hanged Man? Uh… if it’s a dude being hanged, doesn’t that just mean death?”</p><p>“Not at all.” Luxord shook his head. “Like all tarot cards, it can have multiple meanings. The hanged man can represent a decision, or being at a crossroads. More negatively, it can represent stalling or delaying. If this reading is accurate, it seems to be at odds with my dice, because it seems to signify you have a fair amount of life left to live.”</p><p>“That’s good, then!” said Demyx, feigning cheerfulness. As much as he was resigned to his fate, he wouldn’t exactly <em>complain </em>if he somehow managed to pull off a win. After all, Roxas kind of deserved it for committing treason and all.</p><p>“Well, I’ll leave you to your own devices. I expect you have much to prepare before undertaking your new mission. Farewell.” The card disappeared from Demyx’s hand as Luxord walked away.</p><p>“OK, bye,” said Demyx to Luxord’s back, as he began playing a soft melody. The deaths and disappearances of nearly the entire Organization had somehow made the castle even more empty and foreboding. The music helped, a little. One way or another, it was almost over.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>present</em>
</p><p>The flash of a Keyblade. The sound of a fireball. The feeling of cold stone against his knees.</p><p>Demyx awoke, panicking, from his nightmare, nearly rolling off the park bench and knocking his guitar to the ground. He wiped the sweat off his brow, bunched his hoodie up under his head, and tried to get back to sleep.</p><p>His roommates had been long gone when he knocked at the door of his old apartment, replaced by a very confused, unfamiliar family far too large for the tiny space. He’d had to go to the local shelter for a hot meal and clothes that weren’t a newly uncomfortable leather cloak. He was able to sell the cloak for a little money, which he immediately used to pick up the cheapest acoustic guitar at Goodwill.</p><p>He’d done this before. The area was full of tourists who would throw change at a guy playing cover songs. Better than being in the Org, he told himself.</p><p>He closed his eyes again. It wouldn’t be long until the sun came up. Nightmares or not, he’d rather be sleeping.</p><p>There was a familiar noise behind him.</p><p>It had to be another nightmare. Right?</p><p>The noise was stubbornly refusing to go away. He opened his eyes and looked, and his gaze was met with glowing yellow. He made a loud, embarrassing noise as he nearly fell off the park bench again.</p><p>It <em>had</em> to be a nightmare. It had to be. The moving patch of darkness bounced and swayed.</p><p>As a Nobody, he never had to fear the Heartless. They ignored anything without a heart. </p><p>His regrown heart was beating in his ears so loudly that he was sure the Shadow could hear it.</p><p>It jumped, heading straight for his chest. Before he could think twice, he thrust out his hands and produced a jet of water, disintegrating the Shadow. </p><p>He blinked slowly, looking at his hands, the space where the Shadow had been, then back at his hands. He didn’t realize he could still do that. </p><p>Water magic couldn’t permanently eliminate Heartless -- you needed a Keyblade for that. Without releasing their hearts, they’d grow and multiply, devouring anyone they found to add to their ranks. Eventually, the world would be swallowed. He knew all of this because he had seen it happen himself. This time, he didn’t have a convenient escape route.</p><p>He sat in the dark, clutching his guitar protectively, for some time, scanning the gloom for yellow eyes and straining to hear the sound of materializing Heartless. He knew that the <em>exact second</em> he gave up and tried to get back to sleep, more would appear.</p><p>He couldn’t hold out forever, though. His head drooped. He might as well get it over with. He turned the old hoodie into a makeshift pillow again and settled in for sleep. </p><p>A scream echoed through the park, right on cue.</p><p>Still, that didn’t mean it was Heartless. It could be a mugging or something else that had nothing to do with him. He might not be part of an evil Organization any more, but that definitely didn’t mean he was a hero.</p><p>Another scream. The sound of footsteps. Demyx buried his face in the hoodie.</p><p>If there were Heartless, and they took whoever they were chasing, that meant even more Heartless in the park where he was  trying to sleep.</p><p>“Ugh, fine,” he said, rolling off the bench and picking up his stuff, heading towards the source of the noise.</p><p>Not far from where he had been attempting to sleep, a young man was being chased by a couple of Shadow Heartless. As he ran, his path was cut off by a third emerging from the ground, causing him to trip backwards and fall to the ground. Demyx yawned, then summoned a couple of jets of water to take them out.</p><p>“Oh my god!” said the man on the ground. “You saved my life!”</p><p>“Muh,” Demyx mumbled.</p><p>“Those <em>things</em> came out of nowhere, I had no idea what to do -- how can I repay you?”</p><p><em>That</em> woke Demyx up. “Pay? Munny? I could really use some munny.”</p><p>“Oh. Uh. Here.” The man stood up, fingers trembling as he pulled his wallet out of his jeans. “Here, have this,” he said, handing over a twenty. “It’s the least I could do.”</p><p>“Awesome!” This had been worth getting up for after all.</p><p>“What <em>were</em> those? Where did they come from? Are there more? How did you get rid of them? Did you do <em>magic?</em>”</p><p>“Hey, hey, do I look like a guy who knows what’s going on?”</p><p>The man looked Demyx up and down. “I -- Well --”</p><p>“Yeah, exactly. Thanks for the cash. See ya.”</p><p>“...okay.”</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>past</em>
</p><p>“Check this out, Zex,” said Demyx, holding up a bright red, wriggling creature. “Gummi worm!”</p><p>Zexion rolled his eyes. His pitch black cloak and serious demeanor looked completely out of place surrounded by the candy-bright world of Sugar Rush. “Would it kill you to focus for a change?”</p><p>“It might! I’ve never tried so I really don’t want to take that chance.” He took a big bite out of the gummi worm’s tail. “It’s strawberry! You want some?”</p><p>“Ugh. No.” Zexion sighed and turned away. “I suppose this whole trip has been pointless. This world is nothing more than candy and obnoxious little girls as far as the eye can see. Nothing here seems to be an appropriate target for making a formidable Heartless.”</p><p>“I dunno, man, little girls can be pretty mean. You ever have a swarm of little girls surround you and kick your shins? That hurts!”</p><p>“Why would you…? Never mind.”</p><p>“I’m surprised you’re not more interested in the king, though,” said Demyx through a mouthful of gummi worm.</p><p>“That doddering old man? What for?”</p><p>“Maybe it’s just where I’m from, but when I see a creepy old dude surrounded by little girls, I’m thinking something’s up. Like, does he drive a white panel van that says ‘free candy’ on the side?” Demyx chewed the gummi worm thoughtfully. “I guess that wouldn’t really work here. <em>Anyway</em>, the old dude seems totally out of place here. Like he doesn’t belong. Y’know?”</p><p>Zexion stared at him for a minute. Demyx patiently waited for a sarcastic remark or insult that never came. “That’s a surprisingly astute observation, coming from you.” Zexion’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t understand why you’re like this.”</p><p>“Okay, you’re gonna have to be way more specific.”</p><p>“You act like a complete buffoon the vast majority of the time. Any observer would assume you’re not paying the slightest bit of attention. And yet, this is the second or third time you’ve noticed something that eluded my trained gaze.”</p><p>Demyx groaned. “You’re starting to sound like my old math teacher. ‘He can understand the material but doesn’t do any homework.’ Like, who has time for homework when the ocean is <em>right there</em>?”</p><p>“This is quite a different situation, though. We need to complete this work to restore Kingdom Hearts, and, by extension, our own hearts. Don’t you care about that?”</p><p>“You really think that?  That unleashing Heartless on random worlds is gonna fix our problems? Like it’s somehow super important that we get to the bottom of this weird candy world? Yeah, right.”</p><p>The words were out of his mouth before he could think twice. Zexion opened his mouth and closed it again. </p><p>Zexion was one of the original six who had done research with Xemnas. As far as Demyx knew, he was totally devoted to Organization XIII’s mission. He definitely seemed overly serious about it. Axel could maybe understand what Demyx was getting at, but Zexion? Demyx prepared to check out mentally for the inevitable lecture about how critical their work was to the darkness heart darkness blah blah blah.</p><p>“If I were you, I wouldn’t let the other members realize how perceptive you can be.” </p><p>“Wait, what?” </p><p>Zexion turned and began to walk off. “We had best get this over with so I can return to my research, and you can return to whatever it is you do, wouldn’t you say?”</p><p>Demyx wasn’t at all sure what just happened. For all he knew, Zexion was going to report him for subordination as soon as they got back and he’d be turned into a Dusk. Something told him that probably wasn’t it, though, so he followed.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>present</em>
</p><p>Demyx really did not in any way want for the whole killing Heartless thing to become a new routine. But the days became weeks, the occasional small groups of Shadow Heartless became larger and appeared more frequently, and little Emblem Heartless -- mostly ones that looked like fish and surfers -- were starting to appear too.</p><p>Even so, he wouldn’t have bothered, except there always seemed to be someone who needed rescuing, and that someone was often willing to pony up for a meal or bus fare, so -- fine. It kept them from dying and kept him from feeling guilty. He could really use the munny anyway. It was manageable.</p><p>He didn’t even consider that his activities might attract attention, which is why he barely noticed the girl across the street who stared intently at him before running off. He re-settled his guitar in his lap and started playing a Bowie cover.</p><p>A few minutes later, a handful of munny fell into the styrofoam cup sitting in front of him. “Thanks, man,” he said, without looking up.</p><p>“Hey, Demyx. Seems like you haven’t changed much.”</p><p><em>Now</em> he looked. He knew that voice well. The shock of bright red hair was unmistakable.</p><p>“Hey, Axel!” Demyx scrambled to his feet, pleased to see his former friend. “Axel…” He turned pale as he remembered that his former friend was also the kind of guy who would haul him back to Xemnas to preserve his own skin. “You can’t -- you’re not here to --”</p><p>“Relax, do I look like I’m with the Organization? I just gotta check something.”</p><p>Axel stepped way too close to Demyx and looked him intently in the eyes, as if searching for something. Demyx instinctively took a step back only to hit his back against the wall. “Uh, what are you…?”</p><p>The girl he had seen from across the street walked up to them. “Is he?”</p><p>Axel shook his head and mercifully broke his gaze. “Nah, not unless he’s hiding it really well. His eyes aren’t yellow and he seems the same as ever.”</p><p>“That’s a relief.”</p><p>“What are you talking about? Am I <em>what</em>?”</p><p>Axel and the girl exchanged a look. “So… some of the former Organization members have been possessed by Xehanort. We’ve known about Xigbar and Saix for a while -- they might have been the first. But not long ago we came across Luxord in Port Royale, and guess what?”</p><p>“He tried to kill us,” the girl added. “We barely escaped.”</p><p>“No way.” Demyx’s eyebrows furrowed. “So you came to find me to see if I was possessed by Xehanort? Why would he even want to possess me? Xemnas <em>hated</em> me, remember?”</p><p>Axel shrugged. “Maybe, but there were only ever thirteen-ish people who kept human forms as Nobodies, so it’s not like he had a lot of options. We’re not sure why some of us got possessed while others are okay. That’s why I wanted to ask -- I got my heart back. Did you?”</p><p>“Yeah,” said Demyx simply, feeling suddenly awkward.</p><p>“You were right, Lea,” the girl said, smiling. “That explains it, then.”</p><p>“We’ve been getting reports of increased Heartless presence in the Aloha Islands,” Axel explained. “But the numbers aren’t growing as much as we’ve seen in other worlds, so we figured something had to be keeping their population down. We got here and asked around, and kept hearing the same thing -- ‘some guy with a weird mullet saved me with water magic, then asked for munny.’”</p><p>“Can’t be me, ‘cause my hair is not <em>weird</em>.” </p><p>The girl giggled. Something about the girl had been nagging at Demyx for a while, and it finally started to click. “Wait a second, I <em>know</em> you, don’t I?”</p><p>“Oh, that’s right! I thought you seemed familiar. You must have known Namine. She was my Nobody.” She held out her hand. “I never actually introduced myself. I’m Kairi.”</p><p>“Nice to meet you, Kairi. I’m Demyx. Or I guess I’m Myde again?” He shook the offered hand. “Uh, I know it’s a weird name. Maybe just call me Demyx.”</p><p>“Yeah, no one calls me Lea, either.”</p><p>“I call you Lea!” Kairi protested.</p><p>“Tell that to your boyfriend --” “-- he isn’t --” “-- I don’t think he’s remembered once.”</p><p>“Sora’s not very good about that kind of thing,” Kairi admitted.</p><p>“<em>Anyway</em>,” said Axel -- or Lea. “The point I was trying to make was that everyone on the island was talking about a guy who happened to sound exactly like you. The only problem is, I’ve never known you to fight Heartless unless someone were forcing you, which was why we thought you might be possessed by Xehanort. Either that, or something <em>else</em> was making you.” Axel poked Demyx in the chest where his heart was.</p><p>“Ugh, fine, whatever, yeah, I killed some Heartless, what’s your point, anyway?”</p><p>“With all of Xehanort’s Darknesses running around, the worlds are in really bad shape right now,” said Kairi. “We need all the help we can get fighting Heartless.”</p><p>“Wait a sec -- you’re recruiting <em>me</em> to help fight Heartless?” Demyx threw back his head in a big mock laugh. “You can’t be serious.”</p><p>“I am serious!”</p><p>“I am the <em>worst</em> at fighting Heartless. Axel, tell her.”</p><p>Axel smirked. “Yeah, you used to tell Saix that to get out of work, doesn’t mean it was ever true.”</p><p>“I feel so betrayed right now.”</p><p>“It’s just a handful of us at Hollow Bastion,” said Kairi, “and we really can’t keep up with all the Heartless.”</p><p>“Sorry, not interested.”</p><p>“It’s not like Organization XIII. Nobody’s going to impose a quota or any of that BS,” said Axel.</p><p>“Not really a high bar to clear.”</p><p>“But you’ve been fighting Heartless anyway!” Kairi protested.</p><p>“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to stop!”</p><p>Axel thought for a second. “We have food.”</p><p>“...Okay, sure.”</p><p>“If the worlds fall to darkness then -- huh?” Kairi looked at them in confusion.</p><p>Demyx shrugged. “I’m really hungry.”</p><p>“Then it’s settled!” Axel clapped Demyx on the back. Demyx was half-wondering if he were making a big mistake, but the truth that he didn’t even want to admit to himself was that he kind of missed being helpful.</p><p>You know, if it didn’t take that much effort.</p><p>“Hey, wait, one problem though,” said Demyx. “There’s still like, a ton of Heartless on the island, and I think I’m the only one who’s been doing anything about them. But I don’t have a Keyblade, so they keep coming back. Could we get someone with a Keyblade here? Sora, I guess?”</p><p>Axel’s grin was half triumphant and half maniacal. “Someone with a Keyblade, you say?”</p><p>Kairi stifled a giggle. “Oh no, you got him started.”</p><p>“Watch this!” Axel held his hand in front of him and, with a flourish, summoned a fiery Keyblade.</p><p>“Huh. How’d you learn to summon a Keyblade?”</p><p>Axel poked him in the chest. “You’re not nearly impressed enough. I expected at least a ‘whoa, awesome’. Honestly, I’m disappointed.”</p><p>“Oh, yeah, it’s awesome. But seriously, how do you do it? Can I do it?”</p><p>“No,” said Axel flatly.</p><p>“Why not? You did. How do you do it, like this?” Demyx mimicked Axel’s gesture, holding his hand out in front of him.</p><p>“Like this!” said Kairi, helpfully correcting his stance. “And then you have to concentrate on the Keyblade. Like imagining it in your mind.”</p><p>“Don’t encourage him,” said Axel.</p><p>Ignoring Axel, Demyx closed his eyes and imagined the best possible Keyblade he could think of. Maybe one that was also an electric guitar. He was shocked when he felt a sudden weight in his hand. He opened his eyes -- “Whoa, awesome!”</p><p>“What are you talking about?” said Axel, exasperated. “That’s just your sitar. The one you could always summon.”</p><p>“Well, yeah, but I didn’t know I still could, and I missed it!” Demyx hugged the enormous blue sitar like it was an old friend. “I thought that since I wasn’t a Nobody anymore, it wouldn’t work.”</p><p>Axel facepalmed. “You know what? I’m going to be in the gummi ship,”  he said, walking away.</p><p>Kairi laughed. “We better follow him.”</p><p>“Yeah, all right. Hey, Kairi…?”</p><p>“What is it?”</p><p>“Kind of a weird question, but… do you still have your memories? From Namine?”</p><p>Kairi nodded. “Some of them, yeah. It’s complicated. Why?”</p><p>“Well --” Demyx started, then looked intently at his shoes. “I just -- sorry I didn’t ever help you. Or Namine, I guess. Back then.”</p><p>“Oh, at the Castle That Never Was?” Kairi had a look of deep concentration on her face. “Namine… remembers you playing music for her. She isn’t upset. I think she’s glad to see you again.” Kairi smiled. “I’m not sure there’s anything you really could have done, is there?”</p><p>“I don’t know,” Demyx admitted. “I thought about punching Marluxia in the face sometimes.”</p><p>Kairi nodded. “I don’t blame you.”</p><p>“For not saving Namine, or for thinking about punching Marluxia?”</p><p>“Both!”</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>past</em>
</p><p>“Xigbar says I’m paired with you today.”</p><p>“Did he put it in writing? I’m gonna need to see that in writing.”</p><p>“He didn’t put it in writing, but he did tell me to tell you that if you don’t meet quota this month, Xemnas is probably going to turn you into a Dusk.”</p><p>Demyx leaned his head over the arm of his chair, looking at Roxas upside-down. “Oh please, this pretty face? I’d make a terrible Dusk.”</p><p>Roxas seemed unconvinced. “If you’re not going to help me do the mission, I’ll just go myself.”</p><p>“I’m just messing with you, I’m up, I’m going.” Demyx hauled himself dramatically out of the chair, making an excessive amount of noise to express his displeasure. This was mostly for effect. Out of all of Organization XIII, he was one of the most committed to keeping up the appearance of his original personality, like a shipwrecked sailor clinging to a piece of driftwood.</p><p>“You’re not gonna just take a nap again, are you?”</p><p>“A nap? What are you even talking about? I was doing critical recon.”</p><p>Roxas shook his head. “I really don’t understand.”</p><p>“Well, first you gotta find a warm, sunny place, because you want to be comfortable and have good light while you’re doing recon. Then you gotta close your eyes so you can listen for suspicious sounds, right?”</p><p>“That’s not what I mean. I don’t get how you can be so casual about all this. Aren’t you worried they’re going to turn you into a Dusk?”</p><p>Demyx shrugged. “Eh, if they turn me into a Dusk I’ll just be running around doing Xemnas’s errands like I am now. Who cares?”</p><p>“You don’t really mean that, do you?” </p><p>Roxas seemed weirdly distressed by Demyx’s apathy. He could <em>almost</em> see what Axel meant when he claimed the boy might still have part of his heart.</p><p>“Ahaha, you should’ve seen the serious look on your face. You should lighten up. Hey, wanna blow off the mission and get churros or something?”</p><p>“We’re going to Neverland. I don’t think there are churros there.”</p><p>“Geez, why even bother going, then?”</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>present</em>
</p><p>“We’re back! Mission successful!” Kairi bounced out of the gummi ship to where a couple of teenage boys were waiting. Demyx didn’t recognize one of them, but the other sent a cold wave of panic down his spine when he realized it was the boy who had killed him. Sora.</p><p>“Did you figure out what was going on with the Heartless, then?” inquired the other boy. “I see you brought back someone new.”</p><p>“This is Demyx,” said Axel. “Demyx, this is Riku and Sora.”</p><p>“Yeah, I’ve met Sora.”</p><p>Sora looked surprised. “We have?”</p><p>“Seriously? You killed me!”</p><p>“...uh…you were the one with the cards, right?”</p><p>Axel nearly doubled over in silent laughter. “The look on your face…!”</p><p>“I was the one with the water clones! You know… ‘dance, water, dance’!” He mimicked his battle stance.</p><p>“Ohhh, that! I remember that now. That was a really tough fight.”</p><p>“I actually put <em>effort</em> into that fight and you don’t even remember…” Demyx slumped over.</p><p>“So this was the former Org member you’d been hoping to recruit, Lea?” said Riku.</p><p>“Don’t say ‘hoping’, he doesn’t need an ego. Oh, yeah!” Axel suddenly remembered. “Ienzo owes me thirty munny. He didn’t think I could convince Demyx to join if I found him.”</p><p>“Ienzo…?” asked Demyx, working out the letters in his head.</p><p>“Oh, yeah, I didn’t mention that Zexion is here too. So’s Vexen, Xaldin and Lexaeus.” </p><p>Demyx barely paid attention to any of the names past Zexion -- he hadn’t associated with any of those three and didn’t particularly care. But his old recon partner-of-sorts was here. Human. Alive. He had genuinely never expected to see him again the last time they had said goodbye. Without a proper heart, he had felt nothing more than a dull ache then. </p><p>He wasn’t sure they were ever friends, exactly, but he was familiar. That was probably why Demyx suddenly wanted to see him.</p><p>Riku was deep in thought. “So… now that you located Demyx, there’s only a couple former Org we don’t know about.”</p><p>Axel nodded. “Everyone is either here in some form or a Xehanort vessel, except Marluxia and Larxene.”</p><p>“Oh, are you going to recruit them next?” asked Sora, excitedly.</p><p>“Nope,” said Axel and Demyx in unison. </p><p>“Bad idea,” added Axel.</p><p> “No way,” said Demyx. </p><p>“I’d… really rather not,” said Kairi, quietly.</p><p>“Why not?”</p><p>“Even by Nobody standards, they were...” Axel was struggling to explain. “Demyx, you’re the new guy, your first job is explaining the concept of ‘sadism’ to Sora.”</p><p>“No thanks, I quit.”</p><p>“Still, we should probably track them down if we get a solid lead,” said Riku. “If nothing else, we’re going to need to know who and where all of the vessels are.”</p><p>“Well, we don’t know if becoming a vessel is a choice or not,” said Axel. “If it is, we can pretty much bet that neither of them are vessels, considering they have zero loyalty to the Org. If it’s not, well… they’re powerful, especially Marluxia, so Xemnas would definitely have made them into vessels if he could.”</p><p>Not for the first time, Demyx was glad to not be all that strong.</p><p>“Ah, you’re back!” A short, young man in a lab coat spotted and approached them. “I hope you found some inform-- Wait. Is that Demyx?”</p><p>Demyx waved cheerfully. “Long time no see!”</p><p>Ienzo’s face had the look of someone who was carefully keeping his emotions neutral. “I see that you haven’t met the fate of several of our other former comrades. Tell me, how did Axel convince you to come back with him, given that you’ve always avoided fighting?”</p><p>“He promised me food.”</p><p>Axel grinned smugly. “You owe me thirty munny.”</p><p>Demyx thought he saw Ienzo’s eye twitch. “Indeed. Well, then, I’ll expect <em>both</em> of you in my lab with a full report on Heartless activity in the Aloha Isles… and I’ll have your munny as well.”</p><p>“Axel, I thought you said this wasn’t going to be like Organization XIII.”</p><p>“I said no quotas, I didn’t say you wouldn’t get sent on recon missions by Ienzo.”</p><p>“Fair. I’ll just have to get good at finding hiding places.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Small brain: getting your Kingdom Hearts fic invalidated by the release of Kingdom Hearts 3</p><p>Big brain: getting your Kingdom Hearts fic invalidated when Demyx turns out to be Master of Masters</p><p>Thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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